Browsing the Trust Matters category

The Annual General Meeting of Wycombe Wanderers Trust will be held on Thursday 29 November 2018 at 7.30pm in the Caledonian Suite (previously the Vere Suite) at Adams Park.
The venue will be open to members from 6.00pm; food will be available, along with complimentary tea and coffee and the bar will be open.

In accordance with the Trust’s Rules, one third of the current Trust Board is required to retire.John Bignell, Nigel Kingston and I are therefore retiring from the Board; in addition, Trust members will be aware that Mark Burrell resigned recently and therefore there is a further vacancy on the Trust Board.John Bignell, Nigel Kingston and I are offering ourselves for re-election, and Peter Lerner and Bob Massie are offering themselves for election.
As there are five nominees for four available positions, there will be a ballot this year. The ballot will take place during the meeting but if you are not able to attend, you can appoint a proxy to attend and vote on your behalf and, if you wish, instruct your proxy how to exercise your vote.
As I am standing for re-election, I will not chair the meeting; another Trust director, not one of those standing for re-election, will do so.

The five nominees will be in the Caledonian Suite from 1.00pm on Saturday 24 November 2018, prior to the Shrewsbury match, should you wish to meet them.

I’m delighted to say that we have arranged for the Club’s charitable arm, Wycombe Wanderers Sports & Education Trust, to attend the meeting and give a presentation about their activities.
As in previous years, the meeting will also provide an opportunity for questions and answers with Trust Board members and Club General Manager Michael Davies.

If you are not yet a member and wish to attend the AGM on 29th November there is still time to join. You can do this at the Trust table in the Caledonian Suite or by emailing johnbig@wycombewandererstrust.com for an application form. You can also pick up a form from reception at Adams Park during office hours or download one here Membership Form 2019

Whatever way you pay your continued membership is much appreciated and we look forward to seeing as many paid up members as possible at the AGM.

22.10.18 The Audit of Accounts for Wycombe Wanderers Supporters Group Ltd, (t/a WW Trust), Wycombe Wanderers Football Club Ltdand Frank Adams Legacy Ltdhas now been completed and most of the respective boards have now signed off their annual reports (WWSGL will do theirs this week).

Copy of the accounts for WWFC Ltd has now been sent to Ordinary and Founder Shareholders of that company by email (or by post where necessary) and a copy has been placed on this website under our Share Offer heading http://www.wycombewandererstrust.com/share-offer where, since the launch of the Trust Share Scheme, all our accounts have been available.

UPDATE: 7th November 2018 The signed audited accounts for Frank Adams Legacy Limited are now available and have been added to the same page – for sake of continuity

At the meeting held on 12th September, the Trust members agreed in principle that the Club should seek external investment, with investors taking either a majority or a minority interest in the club in exchange for the provision of a permanent capital solution.

After significant debate and further investigations, your Trust Board has decided that the best route for securing the financial future of the Club is to move to a position where external investors own a majority of the shares, with the Trust owning a significant minority shareholding, being involved in the day-to-day running of the Club and having control over items such as team colours, crest and where the team plays. We have therefore continued our discussions with one of the investor groups and feel it is time to introduce them to you.

The investors concerned are Bill Luby and Jim Collis. Bill and Jim are American financial professionals with tremendous experience in sports especially football. We have known them for some time and are impressed not only with their acute understanding of the business of football, but also with their sensitivity to fan ownership and of the Trust’s continued participation in running the Club going forward. In addition, they appear to us have the financial wherewithal to continue to carry forward the Club with the aspirations of becoming a stable, secure and competitive League 1 club and even, in time, competing at a higher level. We will continue to carry out due diligence on them, but our current view is that they will be valuable partners and proper stewards for the Club.

If this plan is to be implemented, the approval of 75% of Legacy Members will be required, and a formal meeting and ballot will be held in due course. However, to start the process, we have invited Bill and Jim to join us for our home game against Oxford on Tuesday 6th November. We will then hold an informal evening at Adams Park on Wednesday 7th November to introduce them to Trust members and to give everyone an opportunity to say hello in person and to ask questions in an informal setting.

It must be stressed – this evening is designed to help us get to know them and to have them begin toget to know the important stakeholders at the Club. There will be no formal presentations or votesthat evening, as these will take place at a future date once the formal process has been agreed.

The evening will be held in the Caledonian Suite, starting at 7.30pm, and doors will open at 6.00pm with food being available before the meeting starts.

This is the start of a hugely important part of Wycombe Wanderers’ history. The Trust board is very excited about the potential relationship with Bill and Jim and I would encourage all members, whether or not they are Legacy Members, to attend if they can. We plan to live stream the meeting again as we did for the last Members meeting for anyone unable to attend in person. More information on the streaming details will be forthcoming.

These articles first appeared in yesterday’s matchday programme – ‘Parklife’

Meet your Trust Board: David Roberton

Having spent my working life in the Pharmaceutical and Nutrition industries, I now have time in retirement to give something back to my favourite pastime football, and in particular to Wycombe Wanderers.

I’m proud to be on the Boards of both WWSET and WWT and I look forward to helping both organisations develop their future activities for the benefit of the Football Club and the community of High Wycombe.

During my time as a Trust Director I had the opportunity and privilege to represent the Trust on the Board of WWFC and for part of that time I was involved in the signing of players including Paris Cowan Hall, Joe Jacobsen and Sido Jombati, who are still with the Club.

At most home games you will find me working behind the “Ale festival” bar in the Vere Suite if you would like a chat.

Wycombe Wanderers Ladies.

Two years ago David Roberton was given the task (not really a task!) of integrating a Ladies football team into the Club structure. The first season was 2017/18 and the team finished in mid table.

However for the 2018/19 season we now have three teams representing Wycombe Wanderers, namely one Ladies team and two under 18 girl teams. Currently the Ladies are unbeaten and top of their League, whilst one of the under 18 teams is also unbeaten and top of their League, whilst the other under 18 team are third in their League.

We are making progress and it would be nice to see a few Wycombe supporters attend a match or two, you might be surprised at the standard of some of the football played. You can also follow them on Twitter@wycombeladies

Notes from Trust Board Meeting 24.9.18

Cash flow end Oct/Nov tight.

August actuals vs Budget to be circulated w/c 1st Oct for review and comment by Board members.

WWFC accounts audit almost complete, aim is to sign off at Club board 8th Oct and distribute to WWFC Shareholders soon after. WWSGL audit nearly complete.

Legacy members now at 566. Action to contact 815 STH, who are not Trust members but have held season tickets for 4 consecutive seasons. They are eligible to become Legacy members once they join the Trust.

Fans attendance up 5% so far, bar and shop sales also up.

Reading FC contracted to play at AP for 2 more years and will contribute to pitch renovation costs.

Chairboys Funders Board meeting 6th Oct. John Bartlett was ratified as its Finance Officer, replacing the retiring Reg Rundle. Many thanks to Reg for all his work for CFF. Teresa Sleven appointed as new CFF Chairperson. Accounts signed off.

Fans Council feedback to be added to Board Agenda as a regular item.

Further discussions have been held with investors as per the Future Steps outlined at 12th Sept mtg. The aim is to be able to advise Trust members of latest status within the next couple of weeks.

Why the Trust Matters

Trust ownership has given the Club a level of stability that had been lacking previously. The Trust, a volunteer led, democratic organisation, passionately believes in the preservation of the heritage and history of our Club and seeks to share it with the wider community. The Trust is not constrained by the whims of individual Directors or owners. All Trust members are equal and anyone can be elected or co-opted onto the Trust Board and, from there, onto the Club Board. The Trust’s annual subscription of £10 per annum makes Trust membership accessible to all. If you would like to join the Trust, or if your membership has lapsed, now is a good time to join. Contact John Bignell at johnbig@btinternet.comor come to the Trust table in the Caledonian Suite on home matchdays.

Trust Matters Feedback

If you have any queries about Trust Matters or if you would like us to consider adding something to the next edition, please contact Trust Matters editor, Nigel Kingston on nigel@ascom.net

The Trust, working together with the Fans Council, has identified that there are a large number of supporters who are in their fourth consecutive year of holding a WWFC Season Ticket but who do not hold the status of being a Legacy Member.

Equally there are Trust members who are not Legacy members because they are not a holder of a full Season Ticket for the past four seasons. Unless, by renewing your season ticket for 18/19, you then become a ‘four- year’ ST holder, in which case you become a Legacy Member with the voting rights defined below.

Under the Trust’s Rules, a Legacy Member has the following voting rights on:

any decision to sell, transfer or otherwise dispose of Adams Park;

any decision to sell, transfer or otherwise dispose of shares in the Club that would result in the Trust’s shareholding being less than 50% +1;

any decision to sell Club memorabilia; and

such other decisions (relating to the history and character of the Club) as the Board of Directors may reasonably determine from time to time.

If you are not a Trust member but have held a full Season ticket for the past four seasons and have or even have not received an email inviting you to join the Trust, then you can join the Trust by picking up a form from the Trust Table in the Caledonian Suite on matchdays or by downloading a copy of Membership Form 2019which, when received together with your membership fee for the coming year, would result in your becoming a Legacy Member with the voting rights defined above.

Your Trust wishes to encourage you to join the already 570 strong Trust members who are also currently Legacy Members, with the aim of ensuring that the Football Club achieves its’ true potential.

As previously advised, this year’s Annual General Meeting of Wycombe Wanderers Trust will be held on Thursday 29 November 2018. Formal notice will be issued in due course.

One item of business will be the election, or re-election, of members to the Trust Board of Directors. Three Trust directors, Trevor Stroud, John Bignell and Nigel Kingston are due to retire, and all three have indicated that it is their intention to stand for re-election. Following the resignation of Mark Burrell, there will be a fourth director position to be filled.

Nominations are welcome from all members, but particularly those who have the necessary time and skills to contribute to the running of the Trust.

If you are interested, please contact me (details below) to arrange an initial discussion and to request a Nomination Form. Nominees need to be paid up members of the Trust and must be nominated by two other such members.

Nomination Forms must be returned to Adams Park, marked for my attention please, by Saturday 3 November.

David started supporting Wycombe Wanderers in 1999, prompted by his daughter’s growing interest in the game. While she went on first to be a mascot in the 2000/01 FA Cup run, and then to play for the WW Ladies team, he became a keen supporter of the Blues.

A trust member since May 2012, David is a passionate believer in the fan ownership model, although since becoming a director of the Trust in 2016 he has found his ideals tempered with a heavy dose of reality.

He is full of admiration for the time and commitment invested in the club over the years by the directors of both the Trust and the club itself and felt privileged to be elected to the Trust. He was subsequently appointed Corporate Secretary of the Trust.

David qualified as a solicitor in 1981. He is a partner in a City firm of solicitors and hopes that his more than 35 years of experience advising private and public companies on, among other things, the legal aspects of financial matters will be of benefit to the Trust, particularly in the current discussions regarding the future financing of the club.

Andrew Howard to Leave Wanderers

Sporting Director Andrew Howard has decided to resign from the Football Club Board at the end of October. He came into the Club in 2014 as Chairman, when it was in a parlous state after almost going out of the Football League at the end of the season. Since then he has been instrumental in changing the fortunes of the Club and putting it back on the road to sustainability. He has worked closely with Gareth Ainsworth over the last four years, which culminated in our promotion to League 1 at the end of last season.

The Trust would like to put on record its huge appreciation of everything that Andrew has done for the Club. We are grateful for the time, energy and effort he has put in, often to the detriment to his own business and his personal life but are pleased to know that he will be continuing his involvement with the club both as a sponsor and a supporter.

Trust ownership has given the Club a level of stability that had been lacking previously. The Trust, a volunteer led, democratic organisation, passionately believes in the preservation of the heritage and history of our Club and seeks to share it with the wider community. The Trust is not constrained by the whims of individual Directors or owners. All Trust members are equal and anyone can be elected or co-opted onto the Trust Board and, from there, onto the Club Board. The Trust’s annual subscription of £10 per annum makes Trust membership accessible to all. If you would like to join the Trust, or if your membership has lapsed, now is a good time to join. Contact John Bignell at johnbig@btinternet.comor come to the Trust table in the Caledonian Suite on home matchdays.

Trust Matters Feedback

If you have any queries about Trust Matters or if you would like us to consider adding something to the next edition, please contact Trust Matters editor, Nigel Kingston on nigel@ascom.net

Mark Burrell has taken the decision to step down from his positions as a Director on the boards of both Wycombe Wanderers Football Club and Wycombe Wanderers Trust, effective from October 8th.

Burrell joined the Trust Board having been elected by Trust members in February 2015, and joined the Football Club Board in June 2015 to work with then-Chairman Andrew Howard and Trevor Stroud to improve the operations and financial stability of the club.

Taking on the role as Group Finance Director, Mark played a pivotal role in significantly developing the financial management of the Football Club and Trust, including the day-to-day needs of the club’s working capital cashflow and strategic long-term needs in terms of funding further success and development on and off the pitch.

However, Mark feels the time is right for him to pass on the responsibility of governing the finances in order to focus his efforts on to his own business.

He said: “Being part of Wycombe Wanderers Football Club has been an amazing experience since 2015, getting to understand the detail and brutal reality of what it takes to run and fund the club, especially with the confined finances associated with being a fan-owned club.”

“I have given so much time and effort to work with others to change the club and make significant progress towards off-field financial survival and stability.”

“However, that work has come at a cost to my business and it is now right for others to take the Group finances and investment opportunities forward. I’m pleased to have played my part in delivering these opportunities at the recent Trust Members meeting and now others will take the plans forward as a team.”

“I owe this to my business, my clients and my family as there has to be a limit to how much individuals can do as an unpaid volunteer. I am looking forward to being able to watch Wycombe Wanderers as a fan again as we strive to make a success of our first season back in League 1.”

Chairman Trevor Stroud said: “The finances have come from a complex and extremely challenging position to a point now where we have a clear understanding, for which we owe a great deal to Mark and I’d like to place on record our sincere gratitude for the expertise and dedication he has brought to both boards.”

“Mark’s contributions have enabled us to present an attractive proposition to potential investors who may be able to take the club forward, and we thank him for everything he’s done and wish him every success and happiness for the future.”

“We will review the requirements of both boards over the coming weeks with a view to welcoming new ideas and expertise, but in the meantime, we are pleased that Martyn Broughton – who is Group Treasurer for the Trust and club – will be helping to cover Mark’s role until a long-term appointment is made.”

The Trust Directors are looking forward to seeing as many of you as possible at the meeting called for12 September, but I am writing to you now give you advance notice of some other important dates for Trust members in the next few months:

On or before Saturday 3 November, nomination forms must be received for candidates for election as Trust Directors at the 2018 AGM. We will email members with more information about this nearer the time, including how to go about securing nomination, but in the meantime do please consider whether you would like to be considered for election to the Trust Board, or whether there is any other member you would like to nominate.

There will then be a “Meet the Candidates” opportunity in the Caledonian Suite before the home game against Shrewsbury on Saturday 24 November.

The Trust AGMitself will be held on the evening of Thursday 29 November, in the Caledonian Suite. The agenda will, as usual, include not only the election of directors but also the approval of the Trust accounts for the year to 30 June 2018, a presentation on the last year’s activities, and a general Q&A session. This year, for the first time, we also hope to have a presentation from our charitable arm, the Sports and Education Trust.

As in previous years, we will also be holding a Finance Forum, to enable those who are interested to delve a little deeper into the Trust’s accounts than is practical at the AGM. The Finance Forum this year will take place on the evening of Wednesday 12 December, in Monty’s Bar.

Further details on all these events will be sent in due course but the Trust Directors are keen that as many members as possible are involved and so we want to ensure you have the dates for your diary now.

The following first appeared in Saturday’s Matchday programme – Parklife:

Meet your Trust Board: John Bignell (pictured on right with Simon Garner)

John has been on the Trust board since 2015 in the role of Membership Secretary. He is also a board member of Frank Adams Legacy Ltd where his brief is club memorabilia and artefacts.

He has been on the committee of the WW Ex-Players Association since 2011. In this capacity following the 125th anniversary exhibition at Wycombe Museum he helped organise the movement and installation of the display to the Scores Bar and the subsequent conversion of Scores to Monty’s which was financed by WWEPA.Having spent 28 years in the printing industry John then worked for the National Trust for 15 years. He currently works part time for a private estate in Hampshire. He has previously worked voluntarily for the club in a football secretarial role.

After over 60 years involvement with the club, he watched his first game against the Uganda national team in 1956, John is very happy to be able to offer his experience of the commercial and leisure industries and of working with volunteers to the Trust board, members and the club in general.

Trust General Meeting

There will be a Trust Members General Meeting on Wednesday 12th September 2018, in the Caledonian Suite at Adams Park, starting at 8.00pm.

The purpose of the meeting is to update members on the financial position of the Football Club, to present options, in principle, in terms of the future financial stability of W.W.F.C., and to enable the Trust directors to understand better how members view those options. It is important that members fully understand the financial issues facing us and are involved in any decisions about the future.

I cannot overstress the importance of this meeting, and I would encourage as many members to attend as possible. We are investigating the feasibility of live streaming the evening, so members who are unable to attend in person, can hear what is being said.

The meeting will only be open to Trust members, but supporters can join on the night (or before).

There will be the opportunity to ask questions on any other issue that members may have following the discussions regarding the financial options.

The Caledonian Suite will be open from 6.00 pm and hot food will be available to purchase on the night. We look forward to seeing as many as possible on the night.

BDO Football Finances Report, Some Key Findings

63% dependency on principal shareholder to make up any capital shortfalls

Overall reduction in FL1 financial confidence… we are one of the 15% where finance is “…a cause for concern”

77% reporting pre-Player Sales loss

69% reporting a post Player Trading loss (includes us)

25% of clubs using facilities to get an advance in Season Ticket income

Trust Directors Sponsor Yves

As a result of Luke O’Nien’s departure to Sunderland, the Trust Directors have switched their shirt sponsorship to Yves Ma-Kalamby.
The cost of this sponsorship is met by the directors themselves and not out of Trust funds.

Why the Trust Matters

Trust ownership has given the Club a level of stability that had been lacking previously. The Trust passionately believes in the preservation of the heritage and history of our Club and seeks to share it with the wider community. The Trust is a volunteer led, democratic organisation which seeks to foster a real sense of ownership amongst the Club’s supporters. The Trust is an ever-changing entity, not constrained by the whims of individual Directors or owners. All Trust members are equal and anyone of them can be elected or co-opted onto the Trust Board and, from there, onto the Club Board. The Trust’s annual subscription of £10 per annum makes Trust membership accessible to all. If you are not yet a member of the Trust, or if your membership has lapsed, now is a good time to join. Contact John Bignell at johnbig@btinternet.com

Trust Matters Feedback

If you have any queries about Trust Matters or if you would like us to consider adding something to the next edition, please contact Trust Matters editor, Nigel Kingston on nigel@ascom.net

There will be a Trust Members General Meeting on Wednesday 12th September 2018, in the Caledonian Suite at Adams Park, starting at 8.00pm.

The purpose of the meeting is to update members on the financial position of the Football Club, to present options, in principle, in terms of the future financial stability of Wycombe Wanderers Football Club, and to enable the Trust directors to understand better how members view those options. It is important that members fully understand the financial options facing us and are involved in any decisions about the future.

I cannot overstress the importance of this meeting, and I would encourage as many members to attend as possible.We are investigating the feasibility of live streaming the evening, so members who are unable to attend in person, can hear what is being said.

The meeting will only be open to Trust members, but supporters can join on the night (or before).

There will be the opportunity to ask questions on any other issue that members may have, following the discussions regarding the financial options.

The Caledonian Suite will be open from 6.00 pm and hot food will be available to purchase on the night.

Notwithstanding the success of the 500 Club in the last year or so, the WW Trust Share Scheme launched in 2015 continues to thrive and produce much needed income for the Football Club.

Over ‘one hundred and eighty’ fans are still contributing with either monthly or annual payments to the Trust over a five year period and these are on top of the 160 who have made one-off payments in the last couple of years.

Those single payments have been of amounts between the minimum of £100 and the maximum of £100,000.

To date some £615,000 has been banked with a further £90,000 committed to be received over this and the next 2 seasons.

So what are we doing with your money?

Much of the initial inflow has gone into helping to stabilise the financial position of the football club by providing some much needed working capital. This allows WWFC to be able to pay its bills, (present and past) in line with agreed schedules and repayment plans.

As was outlined in our Share Scheme prospectus/brochure we have also been able to provide the money to make the best use of our prized asset – Adams Park. So far, some of the completed projects, which are thanks to Share Scheme money (and which would not have been affordable otherwise) are:

New lawnmower (from OWWSA contributions)

New club flag

Medical equipment to boost return of injured players

Replacement seats (Summer 2016 – from OWWSA Contributions)

New TVs for concourse etc

Big Screen repairs

Player Purchase – Michael Harriman

GPS Equipment – the player running tracking system

Security Fence for away end

Fixing of the heating/Air Con system in Caledonian Suite

Paint for various stadium areas (from OWWSA contributions)

Full structural survey of the stadium – required for safety certificate reasons

More paint (Summer 2017)

Further replacement seats (Summer 2017)

Essential refurb and extension of the dressing rooms – as demanded by the EFL (Summer 2017)

Upgrade of the CCTV equipment – so vital to maintain our safety certificate

Replacement IT equipment for Gareth and his team at the training ground – from OWWSA contributions

New boiler to provide hot water for the players and staff at the training ground

Essential repairs and replacement of lighting units in the Frank Adams Stand

If you feel that fan ownership is worth more than the annual membership fee, then do join in with those who are contributing a bit (or a lot) more. See any Trust Director manning the table before each home game in the Caledonian Suite or go to our special Share Offer page via this link .

Any questions on the scheme can be sent by email to shares@wycombewandererstrust.com

Well – if they did that literally, then you would not see much of them!

After their earlier choice moved on to another club, there was just time for your Trust Directors to switch their sponsorship onto our giant goalkeeper.

Yves, who is very keen and pushing for a first team place, featured in the last game of the 2017-18 season and in several of the pre-season games this time around.

The Trust Directors do this sponsorship out of their own pockets and those who were able to be present for the photo and shown in the picture (l to r) are Lawrie Read, Alan Cecil, Trevor Stroud, John Derben and David Cook.

The following articles first appeared in today’s match programme ‘Parklife‘ and were emailed to members earlier this week. This is now an updated version.

Meet your Trust Board: Alan Cecil of WW Trust

Alan is one of the longest serving Trust Directors having been first elected to the Board in April 2011. He retired from a 40-year banking career in December 2012 and immediately put that experience to work by helping to improve the financial position of the Trust and the Football Club.

He continues to help out with the finances and has been the administrator of the Trust’s Community Share Scheme since its inception in 2015 which involves a great deal of admin in his own time, whilst he’s also a Trustee of Wycombe Wanderers Sports and Education Trust and a graduate of their second FFIT course.

From working in several customer service roles, Alan knows how important communication is to our members and he took on the role of Trust website editor as well as managing their Twitter account and Facebook page. Alan will regularly read the views of members and other fans and bring their issues to the Trust Board for discussion.

He has been a Chairboys fan since 1993, rarely misses a home game and travels to about half of those played away. His wife and family are all involved in supporting and/or working roles and both Alan and Gaynor assist with various other voluntary duties for the benefit of the Club including programme selling and distributing team sheets on matchdays.

The Trust and League 1

This season will be the first time since the Trust owned the Club that we have been in League 1, so it will be a new experience for us all. We all start with excitement and hope for the future and a determination from the Trust Board to put the Club on as sound a financial footing as possible. We still face the issues of short term cash flow and profitability and how to compete against the majority of Clubs in League 1 who have budgets many times our size.

Chairboys Funders Update

The initial scheme reached its 5-year end date at the start of May. Chairboys Funders Limited therefore issued further Loan Notes to continue this vital and successful scheme and these were fully subscribed by some of the original Funders, whilst others have understandably taken repayment.

The Trust Board would like to place on record its appreciation to all the supporters who stepped up in 2013 as the original Chairboys Funders. It is also very grateful to those who have agreed to ‘continue with us on the journey ahead’ and support our exciting new future in League One.

Notes from Recent Trust Board Meetings

The short term cash position in June and July has remained challenging and detailed discussions are in progress with potential lenders to help resolve this funding issue over the next few months.

Budgets for 18/19 have been reviewed by the Trust and a monitoring process agreed for on-going review at Trust board meetings.

We have been informed by HMRC that shares to be issued under the Community Share Scheme will no longer qualify for tax relief under the Enterprise Investment Scheme, or EIS. This means that we are, regrettably, no longer able to make EIS relief available for future share issues. All existing shareholders that this ruling affects have been written to explaining the how this affects them. The Trust Board will consider the future of the Community Share Scheme as we approach the end of our initial 5-year plan, and these changed circumstances will mean that we will do this as soon as possible.

A working group within the Trust board has been set up to determine the best way of engaging with our fans and keeping them up to date with developments. Trust Directors are now also attending Fans Council meetings on a regular basis.

Why the Trust Matters

Trust ownership has given the Club a level of stability that had been lacking previously. The Trust passionately believes in the preservation of the heritage and history of our Club and seeks to share it with the wider community. The Trust is a volunteer led, democratic organisation which seeks to foster a real sense of ownership amongst the Club’s supporters. The Trust is an ever-changing entity, not constrained by the whims of individual Directors or owners. All Trust members are equal and anyone of them can be elected or co-opted onto the Trust Board and, from there, onto the Club Board. The Trust’s annual subscription of £10 per annum makes Trust membership accessible to all. If you are not yet a member of the Trust, or if your membership has lapsed, now is a good time to join. Contact John Bignell at johnbig@btinternet.com

Trust Matters Feedback

If you have any queries about Trust Matters or if you would like us to consider adding something to the next edition, please contact Trust Matters editor, Nigel Kingston on nigel@ascom.net

Once again this season, some of the Trust Directors will be present just inside the Caledonian Suite lounge bar area before each game to answer questions and to deal with Trust membership payments and queries.

We will welcome back Terry’s Badges to Adams Park for a sixth season on Saturday with the stall set up in the lower car park adjacent to the first programme hut and near to the away fans marquee.

Matchday badges will be on sale for this and every home game this season at just £3 each. If you want a framed collection of them all, available at the end of this season, then please place your order direct with Terry Hall.

As well as the Matchday Badges, Terry has a number of other WWFC-themed badges for sale and all profits on these (and on the Matchday badges) are donated to WW Trust to help our fundraising for the Football Club. For this season there are at least two new designs, the Promotion badges (celebrating our 2017-18 rise from League Two) and a rosette-style badge in our club colours of light and dark blue.

Thank you for your support of this initiative, which has brought useful extra cash into the club over the past five seasons.

I am writing to you to let you know of an important recent development regarding our Community Share Scheme.

We have been informed by HMRC that shares to be issued under the Community Share Scheme will no longer qualify for tax relief under the Enterprise Investment Scheme, or EIS.

HMRC would have been within their rights to withdraw EIS relief in respect of shares issued under the Scheme since late 2015. However, because we approached HMRC with our concerns on this matter, rather than it emerging in an HMRC audit, HMRC has confirmed that, as a concession, they will not look to withdraw relief retrospectively. This means that EIS 3 certificates issued up until 5 April 2018 will remain valid and those shareholders can continue to claim tax relief on their existing investment.

However, we are, regrettably, no longer able to make EIS relief available for future share issues.

A considerable number of investors under our Community Share Scheme invest on a regular basis. We will be writing to them shortly, to enquire whether they wish to make any change to their current payment instructions.

Shares in the Community Share Scheme are issued quarterly; no new shares have been issued since 6 April this year, and we were due to issue the next round of shares after the end of June. Shareholders who have paid for shares in that period will therefore not yet have received their shares and, because of this change, will no longer qualify for EIS relief on their investment. We will of course be contacting those shareholders individually as soon as we can with an offer to return their monies in full if they wish.

The Trust Board was in any event due to consider the future of the Community Share Scheme as we approach the end of our initial 5-year plan, and these changed circumstances will mean that we will do so as soon as we can. Despite the Club’s recent success on the field, it remains the case that ownership of a lower league football club is a financially precarious occupation. Many other clubs have owners with deep pockets who can underwrite losses and make substantial investment with a view to improving their teams’ chances of success; to enable Wycombe Wanderers to remain competitive in the medium to long term, the Trust, as the Club’s immediate owner, needs to be able to do the same. Until further notice, therefore, the Community Share Scheme will remain open for subscription, the only difference to the initial terms being the inability for investors to claim EIS relief on new investments.

The Community Share Scheme has been one very important way in which Trust members, as the Club’s ultimate owners, have enabled us to support the Club financially in recent years. The Trust directors, and indeed the Club directors, are very grateful to those investors who have to date invested over £600,000 since the scheme was launched. We will continue to work with the Club directors to ensure that they have access to the necessary financial support to maintain the recent progress, both on and off the field, whether through initiatives such as the Community Share Scheme, the 500 Club, or any other ways of raising sustainable long-term finance.

If you have any queries as to how you may be affected by the withdrawal of EIS relief on future share issues, please contact us via our special email address shares@wycombewandererstrust.com

The following first appeared in Saturday’s matchday programme ‘Parklife’ for the game vs Stevenage:

Meet your Trust Board: Trevor Stroud Chairman of WW Trust and WWFC

Trevor has been a Wycombe Wanderers supporter for over 20 years, and Chairman of WWT since 2010. He was originally a board member with Wycombe Wanderers Founders Trust, before the formation of the current Trust.

Trevor’s area of expertise is Sales & Marketing, and he has held a number of senior positions in both Blue Chip and smaller organisations. He now runs his own consultancy business, specialising in Sales and Marketing.

In terms of his Wycombe memories, there are many outstanding moments, including the visit to Villa Park in 2001, Jermaine Easter’s goal against Chelsea in the Carling Cup Semi Final, Dave Carroll’s goal in the 1994 play-off final at Wembley, but last Saturday’s promotion to League 1, without doubt, wins as his best Wycombe moment.

In terms of the Trust, he is determined to ensure that the links between the fans and the Club are as strong as possible, to the benefit of both sides, whilst ensuring that the best interests of WWFC are protected at all times.

Chairboys Funders Update:

Chairboys Funders (CBF), came into being in 2013 at a crucial moment for the Club and provided a loan of £450,000 repayable after 5 years’ which enabled the Club to survive.
CBF individuals loaned varying amounts over this time period at an interest rate of 8% pa, which in many cases was, by agreement, reduced to 4% at a later date. Their security was a first charge on the Adams Park ground.
The loans were scheduled to be repaid at the start of May. Some of the CBF have decided to have their loans repaid in full. Others are taking part repayment or no repayment, with some increasing their loan and extending them for a further 2 or 5 years at 4%p interest for the longer term.
The Trust are extremely grateful to all the CBF for their superb support which initially enabled the Club to survive and now will help it to cope with the pressures of cashflow without bank loans, at a critical time in our future.

The Woodlands Lounge

Work on the Woodlands Lounge is now complete. The support and understanding shown by the Loss Adjuster means that the Club will not be left out of pocket.

Trust Directors Sponsor Luke Again

The Trust Directors have once again personally sponsored the home shirt of Luke O’Nien for next season.
The cost of this sponsorship is met by the directors themselves and not out of Trust funds.

Why the Trust Matters

Trust ownership has given the Club a level of stability that had been lacking previously. The Trust passionately believes in the preservation of the heritage and history of our Club and seeks to share it with the wider community. The Trust is a volunteer led, democratic organisation which seeks to foster a real sense of ownership amongst the Club’s supporters. The Trust is an ever-changing entity, not constrained by the whims of individual Directors or owners.
All Trust members are equal and anyone of them can be elected or co-opted onto the Trust Board and, from there, onto the Club Board. The Trust’s annual subscription of £10 per annum makes Trust membership accessible to all.

If you are not yet a member of the Trust, or if your membership has lapsed, now is a good time to join. Contact John Bignell at johnbig@btinternet.com

Trust Matters Feedback

If you have any queries about Trust Matters or if you would like us to consider adding something to the next edition, please contact Trust Matters editor, Nigel Kingston on nigel@ascom.net

The Trust Directors have once again personally sponsored the home shirt of Luke O’Nien this season and a good number of them were present at the Kit Sponsors Dinner on Tuesday night.

Pictured (l to r) with Luke are David Roberton, Alan Cecil, David Cook, Martyn Broughton (Treasurer), John Bignell and Trevor Stroud .

Along with a good number of other kit sponsors, the Trust Directors pledged on the night to renew their sponsorship for next season, though this will need to be ratified at the next Trust Board meeting.
The cost of this sponsorship is met by the directors themselves and not out of Trust funds.